How Many Days of PTO Is Normal?

If you’re an employer looking to add paid time off (PTO) to your employee benefits offerings, you may be wondering how many days of PTO is normal.

Offering too many PTO days can be a competitive benefit when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees, but it can also be costly. And while offering too few days may be easier on your bottom line, it can discourage new employees from joining your company or encourage existing employees to look for a new employer with a more generous time off policy.

So how many PTO days should you offer? Let’s take a look at the data.

How many days of PTO is normal?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, private companies offer employees between 11-20 paid vacation days per year, depending on tenure:

• After one year of service, employers give employees 11 paid vacation days.
• After five years of service, employers give employees 15 paid vacation days.
• After 10 years of service, employers give employees 18 paid vacation days.
• After 20 years of service, employers give employees 20 paid vacation days.

So to be consistent with the average, you’ll want to give your employees at least two weeks (10 days, assuming a 5-day work week) of paid time off per year for years 2-5, then increase that number by approximately three days per year at important work anniversaries (5, 10, and 20 years of service).

How to use this data to make decisions about your PTO policy

Now that you know how many days of PTO most employers offer, you can make some decisions on how to make your own PTO benefits work for your business. Here are some things to consider:

• If it’s important for your business to attract and retain top talent, you may want to offer a higher-than-average number of days off.
• If it’s important for you to save on costs — and finding new employees isn’t a problem you struggle with — you may want to offer a lower-than-average number of days off.
• If you’re in an industry that’s generous with paid time off (such as the technology industry where unlimited time off is a common benefit) and you want to attract top talent, you may want to offer a higher number of PTO days and the option for employees to cash in their annual unused PTO.
• Conversely, there is data showing that employees actually take fewer days off per year when they’re offered unlimited time off, so that option could keep you competitive in the recruiting market while saving you on costs. Additionally, use-it-or-lose-it laws (more on those later) don’t apply to unlimited time off because no PTO is ever actually accrued, so that can be another cost-saving benefit.
• If you’re in an industry where PTO is an uncommon benefit — like retail and services — you may be able to stand out by offering a below-average number of PTO days simply because most employers don’t offer PTO at all.
• If you’re competing with large companies, you may need to offer a higher number of PTO days than other small businesses generally would in order to compete for top talent with your competitors.

The bottom line: while looking at benchmarks can help you gather data about how many PTO days you should offer, the final decision should be based on your business’s unique goals.

Other things to keep in mind when setting up your PTO policy

In addition to choosing the number of days employees will be paid for time off each year, there are some other things you should consider when you’re developing a PTO policy.

First, you’ll want to decide how you want PTO to accrue. Common methods include annual accruals (employees get a lump sum of hours on either their work anniversaries or the first of the year) and incremental accruals (employees earn a set amount of PTO hours depending on the number of hours, days, or weeks that they work). We discuss this in more detail in our guide to calculating PTO accruals.

Second, you’ll want to decide if you want to offer PTO days as a consolidated benefit or if you want to offer several different buckets of PTO days for different types. Some employers let employees use their PTO for all requested time off, while others offer a different number of days for illness, vacation, mental health, etc.

Finally, if you’re offering employees a set number of vacation days per year, you’ll need to decide what happens to unused vacation hours at the end of that year: do they roll over to the next year, or do you want to have a use-it-or-lose-it policy?

Letting unused PTO hours rollover can be a benefit to employees who want to take a longer-than-normal vacation in a future year, but it could also lead to you having an employee taking a full month (or more) off with no one to fill in for them while they’re gone. And depending on the states you operate in, you may be responsible for paying employees for any unused PTO they have in the bank when they leave the company.

PTO payout laws by state

​As of March 2025, the following states mandate that employers provide compensation for accrued but unused PTO when an employee leaves the company:​

• California: Treats accrued vacation as earned wages, making it mandatory for employers to pay out unused vacation time to employees upon termination regardless of the reason for separation.
• Colorado: Considers earned vacation days as wages, which must be paid to employees upon employment separation.
• Illinois: Requires employers to pay out unused vacation time to employees upon separation, regardless of the reason for termination.
• Indiana: Considers paid vacation as deferred compensation in place of wages, requiring payout of accrued vacation upon termination unless a written policy states otherwise.
• Louisiana: Requires employers who offer paid vacation to pay out accrued time upon termination.
• Maine: Mandates payout of earned vacation time upon termination unless the employer has 10 or fewer employees or is a public employer.
• Maryland: Requires payout of unused vacation time upon termination unless a written forfeiture policy is provided at the time of hiring.
• Massachusetts: Treats vacation pay as earned wages, making it mandatory for employers to pay out accrued, unused vacation time to employees upon termination.
• Montana: Prohibits use-it-or-lose-it policies and requires employers to pay out any accrued vacation time upon termination.
• Nebraska: Prohibits use-it-or-lose-it policies and mandates that employers pay out earned and unused vacation time upon termination. ​
• New Mexico: Requires employers to pay out accrued vacation time upon termination. ​
• North Dakota: Requires employers to pay out unused vacation time upon termination, including resignations, with certain exceptions. ​
• Rhode Island: Requires employers to pay out accrued vacation pay upon termination after one year of employment.
• West Virginia: Requires employers to pay out unused vacation time upon termination, unless a written forfeiture policy is in place.
• Wisconsin: Requires employers to pay out unused vacation time upon termination, unless a written forfeiture policy is in place.

It’s important to note that in some states, the obligation to pay out unused PTO depends on the employer’s established policies. For example, in New York, employers are required to pay out unused vacation time upon termination unless a written policy states otherwise.

Given that state laws can change and may have specific nuances, it’s advisable to consult the latest state statutes or seek legal counsel to ensure compliance with current regulations regarding PTO payouts.

How software can help you manage your PTO benefits

The final thing you’ll want to consider before you add a PTO benefit is how you’re going to manage employee time off. Calculating PTO accruals, determining how much time off employees’ have available, and adding paid time off to payroll can be a full-time job in and of itself. PTO tracking software like Buddy Punch makes managing your PTO benefits much simpler.

Buddy Punch is a user-friendly and feature-rich time tracking tool that excels in PTO management. It offers customizable leave policies, flexible accrual rules, seamless time-off requests, and robust reporting. Its competitive pricing and payroll integrations make it a strong choice for businesses.

Buddy Punch makes it easier to track PTO with features like:

• Accrual rules: Configure PTO accruals by pay period, hours worked, or anniversaries, with customizable carryover settings.
• Self-service portal: Employees can check their PTO balance anytime.
• Time-off requests: Employees submit requests via desktop or mobile; managers receive real-time notifications and can set approval workflows.
• Blackout dates: Restrict time-off requests on critical business days.
• Reports and calendar: PTO tracking, exportable reports, and a shared time-off calendar for visibility.

You can see a list of all of Buddy Punch’s features here, or use the links below to learn more and try it out.